Barb Ludlow column: Spice returns for Rock 'n' Roll Revival

After a two-month delay due to a broken bone, the local band Spice will perform at Heritage Farm south of Kewaunee, on Saturday, June 21.

Event organizer Jim Rabas said when longtime Spice member Bob Skornicka passed away, the band disbanded. This will be its first performance since "Skorny's" passing, said Rabas.

Heritage Farm doors open at 6 p.m., Saturday with the music beginning at 7. Admission is $5, that I'm sure will fit into most budgets.

So come on, all you baby boomers. Get off the couch and go to Heritage Farm to reminisce about the good old days.

Rabas also said they are hoping to have bus transportation from Algoma and Rio Creek. For details on that, call him at 1-800-353-3535.

He said the Ag Heritage Resources started a "Rock 'n' Roll" Revival last fall, with the band Rocker that was a big hit. This should be another big success.

Longtime band member Bill Berkey said Spice was formed in Sturgeon Bay about 1971. Three of the original members are still there, Dan Dufek, Ken Schaefer and Dan Vogel.

Berkey said he and Skorny originally played in 1964 with a Kewaunee band named the Geminis. By 1967, he and Skorny joined the Morticians from Sturgeon Bay, where Dan Dufek was a member.

In the late '60s the guys went their separate ways musically, playing in other bands. Also, the Vietnam War was raging and Berkey enlisted in the Army, getting out in 1971. By 1974, he and Skorny were both with Spice.

Between then and now, there were a number of local musicians from Kewaunee and the surrounding area that played with Spice. The band was reformed in 2002 and played up until Skorny's illness. When his cancer was diagnosed, the focus became his health. The last time Skorny played with Spice was at Heritage Farm in March 2012.

"It became too difficult for him to play, so with Skorny's encouragement, we finished the remaining dates on our 2012 schedule with lead guitarist Dan Vogel's son, Zach, playing drums," said Berkey. "After that, we gave our love and support to Skorny until the world lost that talented and wonderful friend in May 2013. At that time, the thought of continuing without him wasn't really on anyone's mind."

There are currently five members in the band: Dan Dufek, Ken Schaefer, Dan Vogel, Zach Vogel and Berkey. The event at Heritage Farm is their first since they finished the 2012 schedule at Algoma's Shanty Days.

"Everyone gave us a wonderful farewell at that one, and I think we all thought that was the end," said Berkey. "This event will be a memorial to Skorny, with a celebration of the music he loved and a gathering of old friends. He was a one of a kind legend in the Wisconsin music scene."

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Barb Ludlow column: Spice returns for Rock 'n' Roll Revival

After a two-month delay due to a broken bone, the local band Spice will perform at Heritage Farm south of Kewaunee, on Saturday, June 21.

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